<
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jun/29/beyonce-shirt-anti-indigenous-language>
"A T-shirt worn by Beyoncé during a Juneteenth performance on her Cowboy Carter
tour has sparked a discussion over how Americans frame their history and caused
a wave of criticism for the Houston-born superstar.
The T-shirt worn during a concert in Paris featured images of the Buffalo
Soldiers, who belonged to Black US army units active during the late 1800s and
early 1900s. On the back was a lengthy description of the soldiers that
included “their antagonists were the enemies of peace, order and settlement:
warring Indians, bandits, cattle thieves, murderous gunmen, bootleggers,
trespassers, and Mexican revolutionaries.”
Images of the shirt and videos of the performance are also featured on
Beyoncé’s website.
As she prepared to return to the US for performances in her home town this
weekend, fans and Indigenous influencers took to social media to criticize
Beyoncé for wearing a shirt that frames Native Americans and Mexican
revolutionaries as anything but the victims of American imperialism – and for
promoting anti-Indigenous language.
Several Native influencers, performers and academics took to social media this
week to criticize Beyoncé or decry the shirt’s language as anti-Indigenous. “Do
you think Beyoncé will apologize (or acknowledge) the shirt?” indigenous.tv, an
Indigenous news and culture Instagram account with more than 130,000 followers,
asked in a post on Thursday.
Many of her critics, as well as fans, agree. A flood of social media posts
called out the pop star for the historic framing on the shirt.
“We have to be honest about what they did, especially in their operations
against Indigenous Americans and Mexicans,” said Chisom Okorafor, who posts on
TikTok under the handle @confirmedsomaya.
A spokesperson for Beyoncé did not respond to a request for comment."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
